Saturday, October 9, 2010

La Bella Notte, North Bondi Italian

When you think of Sydney the association with beaches instantly springs to mind. We are pretty lucky to be surrounded by very beautiful beaches, Bondi being the most famous of all with thousands of tourists coming to visit frequently. So what could make what countless people already think is one of the greatest places in Sydney any better you might ask? The answer is one very good Italian restaurant - North Bondi Italian. With gorgeous scenic views of Bondi and damn good Italian food there is nothing better to experience. Looking at the photos taken while writing this post I can easily say that it would be impossible to argue otherwise.

To kick off the festivities we start of with a bottle of red. Cant remember the name except that it was a chianti. The waitress had brought out and served a different bottle to what we had ordered but she was nice enough to charge us the same price as the original bottle. Not to worry though, it still went down an absolute treat as most Italian reds do. So while downing our glasses we began pouring over the menu to decide on what to eat.

Luckily picking on bread with olive oil and salt is quite handy when going through the menu, solely on the fact that you get so hungry by reading about all the offerings available. Joking around with Gianna I said I would order some offal - crumbed and fried lambs brains specifically. It didn't eventuate this time but I most definitely will try it next time around. The menu offers a good selection of antipasti, pasta, carne, pesce, daily meat specials and dolci. If we could order it and eat it all in one sitting we would. It all sounded so delicious. Even the offal.

Having decided to just get stuck into the mains we thought that we could at least try the Arancini, Crumbed Spinach Risotto Balls ($18) to get things going. Crispy and salty on the outside and full of warm gooey and cheesy risotto, its pretty hard to go wrong id say. One could very easily get carried away and knock these back like no tomorrow. Very simple and very tasty.

Now to talk about the mains that we ordered. Pasta, pasta and more pasta with some steak on the side. Im salivating at the thought while writing this. I wont lie, im a little wog boy at heart and there's nothing more that I love more than a great plate of pasta. It's the comfort food of all Europeans and I think that nothing can make anyone feel any better than a hot plate of pasta with some parmesan liberally sprinkled on top. Gianna can testify to this but I digress.

Spaghetti Arrabiata - Crab, Chilli, Tomato - Cooked in a Paper Bag $30 Gianna's mum ordered this amazing pasta dish. Spicy hot and littered with juicy crab meat. Having it cooked in a paper bag keeps in all the aroma and warmth and gives the dish that rustic feel to it. The sauce is really nice as all the crab juices are mixed in. By the time you get to the bottom you better hope you have a chunk of bread to mop up all the leftover sauce.

La Tagliata - Chargrilled Hereford / Angur Rib eye, rocket and Green Peppercorns, Chilli $29 This dish was ordered by Gianna's dad. He had his heart set on steak for the night and steak is what the man got. Managing to get a piece to try I can say that it was very tasty. The meat was juicy and tender and very smoky in flavour.

Tagliatelle - Gorgonzola, Flowering Garlic Chives $24 This was ordered by Gianna and didn't last very long on her plate. Putting my hand up to take part of the blame here. Creamy gorgonzola sauce and garlic. Yum. The broad tagliatelle does a good job of being able to mop up a lot of the sauce with each forkful as well.

Rigatoni - Berkshire Pork Sausages, Sage, Tomato, Garlic and Chilli $27 John, Gianna's lil bro got this pasta, one of the favourites I might add. Big rigatoni, chunks of pork sausage and a rich tomato sauce with sage - this is one hearty pasta. What I love is that it just screams out EAT ME! If you happen to be very hungry I would advise that this is what you order. Even if you aren't order it anyway. It is absolutely delectable.

The atmosphere at the North Bondi Italian was fun and casual. It was such a beautiful night out so it was nice to be able to sit in the outside area, where it was not as noisy as the inside. The restaurant does not take reservations so make sure to get there early to avoid disappointment. I don't know what it is about us and going to places with no bookings policies..we've been lucky so far!

The hungry family - G's Parents and Little Brother. The food crew out in force to celebrate G's birthday because eating is what this family does best, with a second bottle of red of course - this one is a Corvo Nero D'Avola. All in all a very good night out with beautiful food, beautiful wine, beautiful views and of course such good company.

Oh gosh, everything looks so good. I could do with a large serving of pasta right now!! I have heard nothing but great things about North Bondi - I need to get there stat! p.s. Happy belated birthday Gianna! :)

@Tammi - Its on the pricy side of Italiano - I know there are many places that are less flashy and have yummy pastas with huge servings. I suppose its because of the location and the quality of the ingredients that make it pricey

@Anon - absolutely, great view, great company and yummy food. It was such a lovely birthday dinner!

@Fridgemagnet - Glad you enjoyed it!

@Betty - Pasta just makes everything better right? Make sure you get there early-ish and enjoy! thank you for the birthday wish xx

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